Weekly email #6

Hello everyone!!! I hope all is well. I'm doing WONDERFUL!

First off, my birthday is in 6 days. And then I'll be 20. It's my last P-day as a teenager!!! Say what?!?! If people want to send me LETTERS, as opposed to email, go ahead. =D I have a lot of wonderful things planned for my birthday. Lots of work. =] It'll be so good. Last night we had dinner with Bishop Moulton and his family (they are so cool!) and then made me a pie! Like, for my birthday! How they introduced it was Sister Moulton asked me if I liked strawberries. I told her I was allergic. (It's a funny joke to Sister Brown and I to tell people we're allergic to everything when they ask. People ask a bunch. They're very considerate. =]) Then I started laughing because I was kidding, of course. She said, "oh! Because we made you a strawberry pie for your birthday, even though it's early." Wouldn't that have been so bad if I really was allergic to strawberries!? Yikes. They sang to me with a candle and everything. I almost cried, I was so touched. But I didn't. Sister Brown told me later that she said and she thought "baby". I keep telling her that when I cry all the time it's not because I'm a baby, but because I'm sensitive. Maybe one of these days she'll believe me. 

Sorry about the short email last time. I was so excited to send pictures. Also, we have 2 hours to email, but I don't like to take the whole time. I get tired of sitting in front of the computer typing as fast as I can. So...yeah. This week I'm making up for it, though. By the way, does anyone know why I didn't get an email from Julianne this week? Because I want one. 

On Thursday half of the mission took part of a mission conference (the other half did it on Friday) with Elder Scott D Whiting of the 70. That was cool. He taught us how to teach the restoration more effectively. We learned SO MUCH. Being a missionary is awesome, you know? We get to see general authorities all the time. =D As part of our 3 hours spent in the chapel with him, 5 of us were called on to give a talk on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyone was told before hand to prepare one. Anyway, I was called on. I definitely need to practice. XD But it was okay. Kind of exciting. Elder Whiting thanked me and said I did a great job, so I guess I'll believe him. 

Have I told you how much I love my district? 'Cause I really do. We have 5 sisters and 4 elders, and we are all awesome. Just sayin'. We had a really good district meeting sharing what we learned at the mission tour and then learning about prayer from our district leader, Elder Sprague. He's going home on April 30th. Too bad, 'cause he's cool. Chula Vista is the place to be. For reals. 

Remember Felicia Gray, the lady that called you? She came out with us on Friday night to try and contact some referrals and former investigators. She was nervous at first because she's brand new to the church, but she ended up having a blast. We didn't teach any lessons, which was a bit of a bummer. When we got back to her house her daughter, Sarah, who is 14 and not a member, asked if we taught any lessons. We said no. She was sorry/sad for us. I said "since we didn't get to teach any lessons, can we teach you?" She said "sure!" Sister Brown and I were so excited because we had asked her, her dad, and her brother, Kyle, if they wanted to get the lessons the Sunday before and they all said no, they weren't ready. But Sarah was totally open to it. Sister Brown, the inspired person that she is, asked what she wanted to learn about. She said "why do the Nephites and the Lamanites always fight?" Guess what! She's been reading the Book of Mormon on her own! She has good friends in YW's and went to a Book of Mormon readathon they had that Sister Brown and I went to a tiny bit of. They started in Alma, because they had read the first part previously, which confused Sarah because she doesn't know the stories. They challenged all the young women to finish the Book or Mormon before girls camp (in June). Sarah is going to girls camp and was trying to finish it. SO AWESOME, right?! Anyway, we answered her question by reading a bunch of scriptures and she thought it was dumb that they fight throughout 1000 years because they had a grudge against the first Nephi. Anyway......we showed her the promise in Moroni 10:3-5. SHE LOVED IT! She thought it was so cool. We committed her to praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true, and she said she would. It was a miracle. A BIG miracle.  So. Cool. 

Sister Brown and I walked one of our investigators dogs for a service. That was kind of fun. =] 

And some thoughts....

I want to love people. The thing I've been praying about is loving the people we serve. It's a lot easier for me to know God loves them than it is for me to feel my own love for them. While my love for them isn't as important as them knowing God's love for them I don't want people to think we're teaching them just because we want them to join the "Mormon" church. I want to be genuine. 

Because of inspiration received during General Conference I am starting to read the New Testament. I realized I didn't know Christ's life in Jerusalem really well, and I wanted to know what He taught. I have been reading it for about a week, and I love it! Yesterday in my personal study I read a lot of miracle that Jesus performed in Matthew. I used to have a hard time understanding Jesus' compassion because the New Testament is so .......dry. But the Spirit was with me as I read and my testimony as Jesus being our Savior and Redeemer, 

was strengthened. I was so grateful for the people that recorded His life so that we would be able to read it. I also read a lot of things from the end of 2 Nephi that had to do with the prophecies of Christ. I love that the people in America knew about Christ coming to the earth to perform the atonement. I love Jesus Christ. I want to be a worthy representative of Him so that people know I am doing His work. I am so grateful to be part of this marvelous work that is hastening. I pray that I can be an effective servant in the Lord's vineyard. 

The gospel of Jesus Christ is true! Love, -Sister Bishop